Friday August 11, 2017

Nintendo is being sued (warning, auto-play video) by mobile gaming accessory company Gamevice, claiming the detachable controllers for the Switch infringes on a patent it owns. Gamevice was created under the name Wikipad in 2008 and co-founded by the current CEO of Oculus VR Brandon Irbe. was granted a patent in September of 2015. Gamevice is demanding that Nintendo stops making and selling the Switch, and wants to be awarded damages.

Normally I just scoff at these "patent infringement" lawsuits as a way for a company to profit off of anthers success, but looking at the pictures of the Gamevice controller, they may really have a legitimate complaint. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

One of the company's products called the Gamevice works in a similar way to the Joy-Cons, using two controllers which can attach to and detach from Android and Apple devices. The Gamevice allows player to control their video games using buttons and joysticks, similar to a traditional gaming experience, rather than using the device's touchscreen.